


Smile For Me, Okay? | Henry x Reader

by misho



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Funny, Henry is so soft, Season 9, he is 17 going on 18, reader has sense of humor, so henry isn't TEN, so innocent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-02 13:50:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17265338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misho/pseuds/misho
Summary: The only way to tell if a person is truly suffering is by their smile. So many different things can be suddenly masked by the pearly white teeth and the soft lips of a smiling expression. Not only does it mask past tragedies, it coats over the many times those eyes had cried tears, that skin had bled crimson, and that mind that had wondered about tomorrow and the millions of tomorrows after that. Before truly judging a character, you need to understand the things they had done to develop such a rewarding and concealing smile.But looking at his, you couldn’t help but wonder: what did he have to cry about? Why did he bleed? And why was he scared of those many tomorrows when he was perfectly safe?This fanfiction includes canon and fanon events for Season 9. Since I'm writing it before the rest of S9 is released, I'll be taking a lot of matters into my own hands. This also means that characters are aged up from Season 8. Henry isNOT10, he's 17-18.





	1. ch.1 - meeting you

It was only a couple days after news of Jesus’s death reached the Hilltop colony, and almost everyone inside had been affected somehow. For many, it was a loss of a leader they dearly loved. For some, it was a friend they’d all gotten to know over the years. For some, he was just a background character.

And that’s exactly who _you_ were.

Despite your past, you had only been living at Hilltop for four years. You had arrived when you were thirteen, coated with dirt and dust, yet you smiled and showed everyone kindness beyond recognition of your own self. Now, with the word spreading about people wearing roamers for masks, you found yourself stricken with grief and yet you didn’t seem that shocked about it.

Walking across the grass, you strode with utmost confidence, your composure never failing to falter in front of others. You were going to go eat your lunch, which was probably the one part of the day you looked most forward to. Everyday was like a cookout-- something you recalled from when you were only five. You could remember the bright sunlight dazzling you as you ran around with distant cousins as aunts and uncles celebrated together by the pool. You remembered the smell of barbecued ribs and hotdogs, a scent that you could still smell in the air today and it often brought you back to that certain memory.

“Yeah, isn’t that totally gross?” You heard a familiar voice speak. With your hair tied out of your face, you could directly see from your peripheral that it was Addy, the charming dark-haired spec-adorning girl that was exactly your age. She was standing, lingering around beside Gage and Rodney, her usual cronies-- nevermind, they weren’t _hers_ specifically, instead they were all idiots on their own.

“I heard he got stabbed through the chest.” Rodney cracked up as if it were a joke, and you immediately caught onto what they were giggling on about.

“Hey, you three.” You demanded strongly, walking on over to them. The moment their eyes directed to you, they all immediately became displeased. “Yeah, I’m talking to you. Aren’t you being a bit crude?”

“What gives? Thought you were too stuck up for us, little rich girl.” Gage growled, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“I would’ve thought you caught the memo by now, Gage, but money doesn’t exist anymore-- nor does social status.” You crossed your arms, staring darkly at him specifically. His pretty hazel eyes caught you off guard, but you stood unwavering and blinking slowly at him.

“Let’s just leave.” Rodney rolled his eyes and the three stooges lumbered off elsewhere in the community. You heaved a big sigh and walked back on over to the food.

“Hey, Y/N.” Tara gently said as she approached you. You could see she had been grieving, her swollen red lids gave off the impression if not did the reek of her clothes she had obviously been wearing for a day too many. “Henry’s still in his cell and I need you to take a plate of lunch to him. Earl told me that he’ll be a little busy for the rest of today, so he can’t keep watching over him. I thought maybe you’d be interested?”

You almost had to ask who Henry was. Then, you remembered the poor kid that those three vultures harassed and you nodded quickly, fixing up a plate of sliced hot dogs and sauteed cabbage. When walking to the jail cells, you made a note to talk to him about a couple nights. You knew that none of the adults in the community would make an effort to believe him, so you figured a little listening would boost his spirits. I mean, hell, the boy was in jail for puking on Tara.

“Knock knock?” You ended your statement with a question, walking down into the dank and dingy jail cells. You shut the door behind you and allowed the darkness to swallow you up. “You still kickin’ in here?”

“I’m here…” Called out a shameful voice from a cell. You turned, walking down that ways, seeing a pitiful boy your age with his arms crossed defensively. He looked up to you, blinking innocently as you set down the plate, passing it to him.

“Lunch is served. Hope you’re not vegan.” You joked with a smile.

“Who are you?” He asked, picking up his fork and stabbing the hotdog before eating it gratefully and more like a pig.

“Y/N. You’re telling me you haven’t noticed me?” You batted your eyelashes. “I’ve been told I’m a head turner.”

“No, that’s not…”

“I’m yankin’ your chain. I’ll be honest here, I didn’t know you existed until two minutes ago when Tara very dreadfully told me to feed you. So here I am.”

“Oh.”

“Not much of a talker, huh? Heard you got tangled in with Tweedledee, Tweedledum, and the Queen of Hearts.”

“Yeah…” Henry mumbled, sighing. “You know them?”

“Of course I do, who doesn’t? They wander around looking for something to shoot ping-pong balls and rubber bands at.” You smile, sitting down right outside his cell. “Feels like they should be the ones behind bars, huh?”

“I did get drunk, though.”

“Not your fault you were pressured into doing things with them. Hell knows I was, too.”

“What do you mean?”

You shrugged. “Just learned my place quickly here. You still shitfaced or what?”

“My head hurts, that’s all. It also smells down here.”

“See, there’s that sense of humor!” You chuckled, standing up. “I’ll get some advil and see if I can wipe the puke from Tara’s shoes so that she’ll finally release you.” You waved gently to him and saw his lips twitch upwards right before he fell out of sight. Then, you travelled all around the community. First, you visited Enid about getting some advil and managed to crack two out of her before you went and talked to Tara about getting Henry out of jail. She was hesitant and timid, but you convinced her to get the key and so you revisited Henry later in the afternoon with good news for him. Unlocking the cell, you helped him out before you handed him the advil that he took dry.

“Why’d you help me?” He asked, tilting his head at you as the two of you left the dark crevice called a prison.

“I was in your position a couple years ago when I first got here, too. Gage and his goons are bad news.”

“Well, I’m glad _someone_ believes me.”

“Oh, for sure. You know, you’re pretty good with your stick there--”

“Staff.”

“As I was saying, stick.” You snickered. “Took out a roamer out drunk with it! Must be good with your stick there.”

“Staff, and yes.” He corrected a second time, but he knew you weren’t going to let up about it.

“Have you ever used another weapon?”

“No, not really. Ever since I was young, I’ve always used my staff.”

“That’s no good.” You clicked your tongue childishly, as if scolding him, then stopped and turned to look at him. “You need to learn how to get up close, all down and dirty.”

Watching his cheeks turn pink was surprising and a first, but you guessed it was just your bluntness that made him rosy. His shoulders rose up to his ears as he shrugged and shrunk back into his own being.

“Say, let me teach you some self-defense! One on one, personal combat with the two things attached to your arms called _fists_.”

“I know how to defend myself.” He said in a slightly whining tone, but the way his voice raised and fell told you he had no damn clue what you were talking about. Blinking slowly, you nodded in agreement and gave him a false grin.

“Of course. Then, you’ll show me tomorrow. Meet me at the training ground at sunrise, don’t be late.”

Whirling on your heel, you realized you hadn’t eaten lunch or dinner. But, it was worth it. You finally found someone to hang out with that at least had an IQ above that of Gage’s and his nightmare squad. And you couldn’t wait to just show him tomorrow what you really could do.

* * *

Of course you had gotten there early. You hated being late, so you stayed up and watched the sky change from black to dark blue as the sun began to rise above the opaque clouds. Carefully, you made your way down to the training ground that was nestled in a corner by the wall. You liked it the most out of all places in the Hilltop community, it was secluded by trees and bushes and during sunrise, hardly anyone was awake. You stood there, leaning against the wall, listening to the familiar hum of cicadas and crickets. A couple birds began to chirp, too, in the trees above.

Hearing rustling, you glanced over at the entrance and saw Henry wearing his armor and wielding his staff that he had walked through the front gates with. You smiled, shaking your head.

“Sorry, I’m kind of late.” Henry said, looking at the sky. The sun had already risen, but the clouds blocked it from view so that it appeared downcast and gloomy.

“Hey, if you can’t see the sun, is it really sunrise?” You joked, walking up to him. “Now, take all this off.”

“W-What?” He stammered, his eyes wide.

“Oh, I mean the armor. And put your stick away, we don’t need that today.”

Doing as you said, he took off his armor and placed it neatly on the ground, laying his staff down on top of them before he stood straight and watched as you motioned putting your fists up. He mirrored you, doing the same.

“Now, swing.” You commanded, but he appeared reluctant.

“I can’t hit a girl.” He said timidly.

“News flash, Henry, we left all those social standards back in 2010 when the dead started to come back to life. Now, give me all you got.”

Henry’s stance grew serious as he threw a right hook at your head, but you quickly blocked it by placing your arm and hand against your head, a technique you recalled as ‘shedding,’ then you applied pressure of your elbow on his shoulder, kneeing him just above the groin, and flipping him downwards onto the grass with your elbow. Standing back, you gave him an accomplished smile as he writhed around, coughing.

“Alright, let’s try again.” You said, cracking your knuckles.

“What?” Henry coughed, sitting up. “I don’t want to.”

“If you’re going to learn how to fist fight, you’re gonna have to tough it up through these lessons.” You offered your hand out, helping him up. He dusted the leaves and grass off of him before he readied himself yet again. “Now, give me a good haymaker punch. The same one you just threw. I want you to see what you’re doing.”

Henry nodded miserably and threw the same punch after reeling his arm back. Doing the same exact steps you had before, you had thrown him back onto the ground, winded. He stood up quickly, wobbling.

“This is a simple tactic. You’re attempting at punching me with all of your power, but I quickly shed it with my arm. The thing is you have to be able to hit your opponent with every chance you get, then you bowl him onto the ground. Understand?”

“Not really.”

“Then, let’s take it step by step. Throw a slow punch at me.”

He did so, swinging toward the side of your head. You quickly maneuvered your arm up, as if you were fixing your hair or pushing it back. His punch was blocked. “Now,” you began, staying still in that pose, “this is when I knee you. I try not to aim for below the belt with beginners. Out of confusion, you buckle and I quickly push you onto the ground with the force of my elbow.”

The two of you trained for a little while more, and you allowed him to even knock you on your ass, but only a few times. When he had accomplished the move you taught him, he looked extremely satisfied with himself. Looking up from the ground, you felt a surging pain in your gut where he had kneed you, but you quickly got up.

“That was good.” You said with a small smirk. “You could almost be as good as me one day.”

“What do you mean?” Henry said, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m a self-defense instructor, alongside Kal.” You grinned now, placing your hands on your hips. “I’m also a guard for Hilltop. You’re telling me you haven’t noticed me around?”

“But how? You’re my age, right? Seventeen?” He asked in surprise.

“Yeah, another story for another time. I just know my shit, what can I say?”

“Well, look who it is.” Said a familiar voice, not to far off. You looked up and saw Gage standing there, leaning awkwardly with his arms crossed. “Y/N and Huckleberry.”

“Good lord, do you ever stop with that antagonist act?” You hissed, feeling your nails dig into your fingerless gloves. “It’s a real pain in the ass.”

“You two dancin’ out here? How romantic.” He scoffed, walking closer to you. “Who knew you could move on so fast? He a rebound?”

“Jesus Christ, Gage, go milk a cow or something. That’s all you’re good for, anyway.”

“What’s going on?” Henry asked, looking genuinely concerned as the two of you bickered back and forth.

“This dickhead is just trying to--”

Suddenly, Gage swung at you. But you already were prepared and saw it coming, grabbing his wrist and twisting his arm tightly. You then pulled him by the collar, leaning him down and awfully close to your face. Fear was in his eyes when he saw his plan didn’t work out.

“I thought I warned you once already not to fuck with me.” You growled.

“Hey! What’s going on?” Shouted yet another voice as Tara emerged into the clearing, her eyebrows furrowed so far down that she looked livid. “Y/N, let go of him.”

Without audible protest, you let go and pushed him down to the ground and quickly crossed your arms defensively. “Tara, he was harassing us.” You spoke confidently, but you knew already she’d put you down quickly.

“I don’t care, you don’t go around fighting everyone you see. Haven’t you learned that already?”

“But--” Henry spoke up, but Tara cut him off also.

“Don’t make me put one of my best guards in jail again.” Tara warned, glancing at the two of you before she turned and helped Gage walk it off. Before he turned away, though, he grinned at you devilishly and mouthed something.

_See you ‘round, princess._

You wanted to launch yourself at him and swing at his delicate little face, but you decided enough damage had been done for one day. Looking dejectedly at the ground, you couldn’t meet Henry’s eyes. You knew he was going to ask questions, but you couldn’t answer them yet.

“Sorry we had to cut this short. I’m going to go back home. See you later.” You dismissed him, briskly jogging away.


	2. ch.2 - dangerous things

_Knock, knock_. You glanced around the room before you realized it was coming from your front door. Standing up, you walked on over to the front door just to open it and sigh loudly. Henry’s desperate expression met yours and you could tell that he wanted to talk about this morning.

“Hey, can I come in?” He asked, eyeing your outfit. You had slept in a little after this morning at sunrise and had stripped your jeans off, leaving you in your tank top and underwear. “Or… is it a bad time?”

“No, come in.” You mumbled, walking in and opening your fridge. You pulled out a drink, sitting down on your couch and drinking it quickly. He slowly and uncomfortably moved indoors, trying to look everywhere except for your thighs.

“You’re allowed to drink?” He asked, finally landing on your whiskey bottle.

“No.” You grumbled. “It helps me stop from overthinking.”

“What do you have to overthink about?” He said cautiously, sitting down beside you. You shook your head, not really wanting to explain the whole thing to him at this moment in time.

“Gage is just a fucki—“

“Y/N!” Shouted a voice that barged into your front door. Tara, who saw you and Henry sitting side by side, who saw you drinking underage, who saw you in your underwear, thought a lot of different things before she could speak. Henry jumped in surprise and quickly stood up, shuffling away briskly.

“Sorry, am I interrupting?” She rose an eyebrow. “And am I smelling alcohol?”

“No, what do you need, Tara?” You asked, standing up and putting the whiskey behind you.

“Well, I need you. And Henry. Get dressed, we have an emergency. Meet at the manor, okay?”

“Yeah, sure.” You said, almost immediately straightening yourself and grabbing some nearby sweatpants. Pulling them on and stuffing your shirt in the band, you noticed Henry awkwardly shifting around.

“What’s going on?”

“No idea.” You said, listening to the distant roar of thunder. You knew a storm was rolling in, but you didn’t mind. The sounds of thunder the sudden flickers of lightning were therapeutic to you, mostly. But, when you were dressed, the two of you grabbed your weapons and headed out into the trickling rain only to submerge back into the comfort of a roof in the manor. You could see an assembly of people, all familiar faces and a mix of guards from Hilltop, the Kingdom, and Alexandria. You also noted some former Saviors.

“Tara? What’s going on?” You asked, walking up to her. She shook her head, looking to Michonne who was at the front of the open room.

“Listen up people.” Michonne said, her voice strong and unwavering. “I have gathered twenty of our best guards and fighters, there’s been an emergency and we need to find someone.”

“Did someone go missing?” Shot out a voice from the crowd, to which Michonne shook her head quickly.

“No, a prisoner escaped from Alexandria. Negan.”

The entire room fell silent and you could feel the literal chills running up your spine. You had heard a lot of stories about Negan and his dictator-like tyranny, yet you had never been able to experience it. You arrived shortly after his reign ended. But you knew who he was, what we was capable of, and what he had done in the past. All of those things terrified the hell out of you.

“So, we have to set out to find him.” Michonne said. “If found, raise your weapon on him. We want him alive, preferably. We will all have radios so that if he is found, we can get a location.”

“What about locations? Where are we going to find him?” Kal asked, crossing his arms with a frown.

“He set off from Alexandria around last night, so looking around that area should be good.” Michonne said, nodding to everyone. “We need to cover a lot of ground, so we’ll have to split up in groups of two.”

“What about the Sanctuary?” Asked Alden, Enid’s boyfriend.

“Yes, there should be people searching around that area also. There’s no other clues where he might be, so local towns are a safe bet. We have twenty people, ten groups of two people. Find a partner and stick with them, do _not_ get separated.” Michonne replied, looking down at her map that was laid out on the floor. The twenty people gathered around, looking at the map as she marked areas.

“Four groups stationed at Alexandria and four at the Sanctuary will leave us with two more groups to go to nearby towns. The groups at Alexandria and the Sanctuary will set off in their designated direction, north, east, south, or west.”

“What about means of travel?” Piped up a drowned voice in the crowd.

“Use two carriages to carry all four groups to their designations.” Tara said. “It’s heavily raining, so we can’t use separate horses for travel. That means the groups going to the towns will have to walk.”

“You want us to walk around while there’s people wearing walker masks?” Cried a female.

“Yeah, what gives?” Angrily demanded another.

“All of you are strong individuals. That’s why we’ve called you all here on such short notice.” Michonne growled. “It may be unsafe, but Negan is out there and we can’t afford to let him loose. So, every group gets a walkie-talkie and you make reports if you see anything. Now, pick a partner and line up! We’re going to talk about placements and head out now.”

“This is so quick…” You said, mostly to yourself, but Henry overheard as he leaned in close. “Almost too quickly.”

“Partners?” He asked, looking down at you.

“I guess? I mean, someone’s gotta protect you.” You joked lightheartedly, despite your panicked expression. His lips twitched into a short-lived smile before you had to line up. In the meantime, you spoke about where you’d be stationed.

“What’s free?” You asked, looking at Michonne as she had already written down names in specific spots.

“I suggest you two take north of Alexandria. It’s thick forest and it’s probably the least dangerous. There’s a couple abandoned cabins along the way, too.”

“You don’t have to baby it for me, Michonne.” You gave her a small smile.

“Yes, but Carol doesn’t know her son is doing this, so I’d like to tell her that he has a good percent chance of being alive.” She warned.

“Wait, are you serious? My mom doesn’t know?” Henry asked, frowning at the both of you. “She’d blow her top!”

“I think what she’d really blow her top off at is the idea of Negan wandering around free.” You placed your hand sassily against your hip, staring at him.

“I can’t do this.” He said.

“Oh shame, because you’re doing it.” You took his wrist warningly, then looked to Michonne warmly and said, “We’ll take it.”

* * *

Piling into a carriage with seven other people was not your favorite moment. Maybe it was the long ride in the rain or the constant hesitation from the horses, but you just didn’t feel that good after you got off the carriage. After consulting a compass, you all set off in your own directions as the land was submerged gracefully into darkness and nightfall. Thunder still rolled greatly in the background and the rain was getting harder, but the thick woods around you made a shelter and kept you and Henry more dry than you had anticipated.

“This isn’t quite how I imagined spending my first week in Hilltop.”

“Been quite the adventure for you, huh?”

“You could say.” He laughed softly, a gentle chuckle that rang in your ears louder than the thunder itself. Why was your heart racing? Maybe it was the fear. Yeah, it had to be that. “So—“

“Sh!” You scolded, “We have to listen for any movement, and we have to be quiet so those… people don’t find us.”

“You’re taking that really seriously.”

“Should I _not_? Was Jesus’s death nothing to you?”

“I don’t know, was it to _you_?” He responded, looking at you. You couldn’t respond but you froze, hearing a distant snap in the underbrush. You tugged on his sleeve and clamped your lips tightly together so much so that you could feel the physical effort you were putting into doing that. It couldn’t be another search party, you were the only ones going north. It was either an animal, a roamer, Negan, or a person wearing a roamer face. All of those possibilities—except the animal— terrified you. Henry’s brown eyes in the dimly lit night darted around and you shivered.

“It was probably an animal. There’s no other noises.” He whispered hotly in your ear. No, not sexily, literally hotly. His breath was burning on your earlobe but you couldn’t protest.

Nodding, the two of you carried on through the woods, trudging like there was no tomorrow. Yet, you took extra specific care into ensuring you didn’t snap any twigs or step on any leaves or hidden corpses along the way. You shivered against. Your clothes were soaked with cold rain and you didn’t have a jacket on, what were you thinking running out of the house with a thin t-shirt and some sweatpants on? You mentally choked yourself out in resentment.

“You cold?” Henry asked, and you almost screamed. He was extremely quiet and kept his distance, you had almost forgotten he existed for a moment. Shrugging, you didn’t want to talk in fear of being found out. “Here, then.” He said, taking off his coat and wrapping it around you heroically. If it weren’t for his extremely tragic timing, you would’ve almost been touched by the gesture.

“But what about you?” You asked him, your voice hardly raising above the level of the rain. He had to lean in closer to hear your question.

“I’ll be fine, I-I’m wearing a long sleeve.”

And that he was. Although, you caught his stutter. Did he just casually do that, or was he nervous? I mean, this was a time to be nervous all right, but you couldn’t help but think it was rather kind of cute— oh what were you thinking?! You had better things to do than imagine Henry’s face when he tripped over his own words.

“It’s been hours already.” Henry spoke yet again, like the dumbass he is. “We should find shelter.”

“We can’t stop, we have to find Negan.” You replied to him, equally a dumbass.

“I think we should just take a small break. Come on, let’s look for shelter.”

He took your hand, which was unexpected, but you didn’t mind at all as he pulled you and weaved through trees, using his sti— staff— to push aside plants and branches. It seemed like forever the two of you walked along the same path that you finally found an abandoned cabin out in the midst of the woods. So, hurriedly, the two of you rushed into the front door and shut it. The sound of thunder rumbling became muffled and you hadn’t realized how it had became white noise while you were out there. Now, you could hear an occasional drip from the roof and you felt much better. Yet, something was still off.

“We need to barricade everything. The doors, the windows…” You said to him.

“What?” He frowned, turning to look at you as if you had three flaming heads.

“Look, I don’t want people walking in.”

“That’s why we take turns watching.”

“You won’t realize it if they’re disguised as roamers.” You burst, shaking despite wearing his jacket.

“What’s gotten into you? Those people probably aren’t walking around on a stormy night like this. They ought to have a camp somewhere.”

_Maybe he’s right… I’m just… freaking out over nothing…_

“Yeah, I guess.” You said, sitting down in a far corner. When the lightning flashed, you could see the dusty furniture around you and Henry standing in the center of the room, looking at you with a concerned look on his face. He approached you and sat down, leaning his staff against the wall and awkwardly sitting there before finally speaking up.

“What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing.” You lied.

“Uh-huh. I can see right through that, you know.”

“How?”

“My mom taught me a lot.” He grinned childishly. “Now, tell me what’s up.”

“I’m just… scared.” You mumbled.

“You? Scared? What for?” He laughed, of course joking but making you feel even worse. “You’re really confident all the time, what does the great Y/N have to be afraid of?”

“Those people… that wear those masks…” You looked away. “I knew about them already.”

Thunder roared, lightning flashed in the nick of time where you could witness Henry’s face change from playful to terrified.

“What do you mean?” He asked, his voice resounding in the dark.

“When I was with my dad a couple years ago, they… well, those people… took him from me. They killed him. At least I think they’re those people, but I could be wrong. That was a year before I made it to Hilltop.”

“Wait, you were all alone for a year?”

“Yeah, I was. My dad died and I sort of had to grow up on my own. He’s the reason I know all this self defense stuff, because he taught me. He also made me learn the face of every poisonous plant in America.”

You wanted to laugh, but hardly anything came out. “I miss him.” You finally admitted, but you refused to allow your throat to tighten and your nose to sting.

“You always seem so happy. Do you bottle this up?”

“No.” You immediately spat. Thunder clapped. “I just don’t cry anymore, there’s no point.”

“You don’t cry?” Henry leaned back. “Now, that’s bullshit. The day that I was jailed was the same day I saw my mom cry for the first time. I had no idea that a woman as strong as her was even capable.”

“Well, I just don’t.”

“No, what you do is bottle it all up and when it finally pops—“ Thunder sounded again. “—it just overflows.”

“Please stop talking about this.” You said to him coldly. “I’m going to sleep, anyway.” Lying down, you carefully pulled his jacket up over your face as you shut your eyes tightly, shivering. You felt Henry stand up and leave your side but then as you faded away into sleep, you could feel a warmth envelop your body and drape you.


	3. ch. 3 - a new morning

When you finally came to, you felt much more comfortable than you recalled. Rolling around a bit, you found yourself wallering around on a plush mattress. Gripping the blankets and covers, you pulled them delicately close to your face as you forced your eyes to open, squinting at the sudden light that blinded you. You looked around the room and finally your eyes landed on something tasteful-- you could see Henry’s shirtless back as he picked out another shirt to wear from the drawers. He was fit with quite a bit muscles and you couldn’t stop yourself from staring. Eventually, he slipped on his shirt and turned around to look at you.

“Oh, you’re awake.” He said lamely, as if you had not just gotten caught staring at his shirtless bod.

“Wait, what time is it? Is it _morning?_ ” Sitting up, you asked him in a incredulous tone. “You did not just let me sleep through the entire night.”

“You seemed like you needed it.” He shrugged. “I was only doing you a favor.”

“You’re an idiot, you know that?”

Standing to your feet, you swayed a little bit before you noticed your sneakers were off and your socks were stuffed into the mouths of the shoes. He must’ve taken them off so you wouldn’t dirty the blankets, but all you could think about was Henry taking your shoes off your sleeping self. Why did it make your heart skip a beat? You swore off boys completely, you know. Walking around the room, you stretched your limbs before you took your damp socks out of your shoes.

“Hold on.” Henry said, tossing you a fresh pair of socks. You blinked and took them, putting them on instead. “Your feet will get raw if you wear the other ones.”

“Yeah.” You nodded, grateful for how thoughtful Henry was. Even though you practically yelled at him last night, he wasn’t mad at you or anything. It was definitely a first. When you put on your shoes, you two took your weapons and walked back out into the gentle sunlight. Now that your eyes had adjusted, you could still see the thick black clouds wafting over the treetops. It might rain again, you thought to yourself.

After a couple minutes of simply waking through the woods, you swore you had passed by a certain budding bush but you kept it to yourself until you saw it a third time. “Where are we?” You asked Henry, who was leading the way.

“In the woods? I don’t know.”

“No, I mean… I’ve seen that bush probably three times now. What’s going on?”

“Maybe… we’re lost?” He suggested with a modest smile. You frowned at him, your eyes immediately darting to his slumping figure and the only thing you wanted to do was whack him in the skull with your index finger. But then, your mind drifted off and you felt his hands wrap around your waist, his warm lips on your own…

“Dammit!” You shouted, landing onto the ground. You had tripped over a root and fallen on your face, mid-thought. You weren’t sure if you shouted in pain, surprise, or anger that the daydream had been so rudely interrupted, but you knew one thing. The real deal was staring at you, making your cheeks burn with embarrassment. You quickly pulled yourself up off the dirt and leaves, dusting yourself off.

“Are you alright?” Henry asked.

“Yeah, whatever. Come on, we have to get out of here. Someone could’ve heard us.”

The two of you almost took off jogging but you both heard a nearby rustle and you squatted down, pulling him low down to the earth along with you. He almost fell over but steadied himself, peering over the bushes to look at a lone roamer.

“Just a walker.” Henry said softly against your ear. You shook your head and stood up, drawing attention to yourself. The roamer looked at you and snarled, drawing closer. You raised your knife to it.

“I know you’re not a roamer.” You said, frowning at it. It still walked closer to you, snapping its teeth. “Take off the mask!”

“Y/N.” Henry said, grabbing your shoulder. You didn’t budge. “Come on, it’s a walker! Those people don’t travel alone.”

You didn’t respond, shaking as you stared it down in the eyes. Henry rolled his own and took his staff, racing up to the roamer and whacking it across the head. Collapsing to the ground, he then stuck it through the skull and you watched the monster turn limp with death. Henry, proved right, looked back at you worriedly. Your knife was still clasped in your clammy hands.

You snapped back into it when you felt Henry’s hand on your shoulder and his voice ringing in your ears, repeatedly asking if you felt okay and to put down the knife. You eventually did so, placing the knife neatly back into its sheath before you made eye contact with him, blinking a couple of times.

“What happened?” He asked you, searching your lost gaze for an answer.

“Just froze up.” You quickly began walking on over the corpse. But, shortly up ahead, you froze again. “Shit.” You whispered under your breath and took Henry’s sleeve, pulling him behind a tree with you. “That roamer parted off from a herd. Look.”

Pointing, you directed his view to the cluster of decaying human bodies limping around the woods. He exchanged a worrisome glance with you and something told you that the two of you needed to leave before the herd found you. So, you bent real low to the ground and rushed across it, trying to scuttle away with little to no noise. A twig snapped behind you and you whirled around, looking at Henry who had an apologetic smile on his face. The herd gurgled and urged on forward in your direction.

“Fuck, gotta go!” You said, taking Henry’s hand and running as fast as you could. You had no idea if those roamer-wearing people were inside the midst of the herd, but you didn’t care. You couldn’t risk slowing down, you just had to keep running. A part of you told you to keep pushing, but you knew the farther you went, you got even more lost.

“What’s that up ahead?” Henry asked, pointing. You saw a small general store and a road and you knew you had to hide somewhere, so your instincts told you to jog on that way. Running out onto the burning hot asphalt, you felt yourself trip over your own boots and you landed, releasing Henry’s hand before you skidded across the pavement. Sucking in your breath, he quickly helped you up to your feet. On one of your knees, your jeans were ripped open and your entire knee was skinned.

“Come on, Y/N, we can’t stop!”

“Just… give me a moment.”

“We don’t have a moment!” He hurriedly rushed you, sweeping you off your feet and into his arms. You would’ve protested, but this really wasn’t the right time. He hauled you into an old gas station, kicking open the bathroom door and placing you on the counter. Luckily, there were no roamers in the store, but he was still rushing himself.

“Okay, okay, I’ll try to find alcohol or something--”

“Um, no. Alcohol is going to sting like a bitch.” You frowned.

“Well, it’ll get infected it we don’t do something.” He argued, quickly running out into the store and grabbing some old paper towels. He managed to find a bottle of whiskey with enough alcohol in it that it should do the trick. He returned, popping open the whiskey bottle.

“Don’t you dare!” You said, but it was too late. He poured the entire bottle over your kneecap and you let out a shrill wail in pain as it burned and stung. Henry suddenly clamped his hand over your mouth, pressing you up against the mirror. Scratching at his hand, he threw the empty bottle in the trash before wiping the blood off with the paper towel. He dabbed lightly on the wound, but it still hurt like hell. He then tore off a small cloth from his undershirt and wrapped it around your leg, tying it neatly.

After that climax of pain, his hand remained over your lips. When he was finished, his eyes met yours and he realized that he was pressing you roughly against the mirror, to which he slowly let his hand up. “Sorry.”

“You dick.” You cursed at him, which made him flinch. “No warning whatsoever.”

“I’m sorry! I had to do it!” He pleaded. His brown eyes looked up to you, all dilated in the dim light, which made your heart race as you compared his expression to that of a puppy’s. Shrugging your shoulders and rolling your eyes, you sat comfortably on the counter. Henry shut the door, closing off all light from the outer world. You knew why he did it, to make sure nobody would see you two in the restroom. Taking your backpack off finally, you pulled out the walkie-talkie and pressed down on the button.

“Hello? This is group four talking. Is anyone there?”

You awaited a response, placing it down on the counter beside you, but you felt something brush against you. You thought maybe Henry had sat down on the counter next to you, and when you tried to put it down, you shoved it straight in his lap. Embarrassed, you felt him take it from your fingers quickly.

“Group two talking, what’s happening?” Spoke a masculine, yet technical voice. You knew immediately who it was.

“Eugene,” You breathed softly, addressing the voice, “It’s Y/N and Henry.”

“I know who you are. Again, do you have a report?”

“There’s a giant walker herd somewhere north of Alexandria. I think it’s pretty far, Henry and I are lost. We’re in a gas station in a small town, hiding out.”

“Any wounds?”

“Scraped knee, but it’ll be alright. Any signs of Negan?”

“Group six talking.” Michonne spoke up on the walkie-talkie. You felt grateful to hear her voice. “No sign east of Alexandria. You said you’re trapped in a gas station?”

“Yes. We spent the night in one of those cabins you talked about. The walkie was muffled by the bag, so I’m not sure if we missed out on anything.”

“It’s been pretty quiet.” Michonne said with a sigh. “I’m thinking of calling off the search.”

“What? You can’t do that!” You replied.

“As you said, you’re hiding in a gas station. It’s been two days.” Michonne piped up. “I need everyone to report back immediately. Any group that isn’t accounted for will be regarded as missing and will have search parties sent out to go find them. Y/N, stay where you’re at, we will find you.”

You didn’t respond, listening as groups chimed in to say they were still safe. You lost count of them until you heard Michonne speak again.

“What about group nine?”

Nobody replied.

“Hello? Group nine? Oscar, Kal, please respond with a report.”

Still, no response.

“They were stationed at a nearby town.” Someone else said. “I think Blackstone.”

“Thank you.” Michonne said. You looked to Henry, your eyes adjusting in the dark. You could see his pale freckled face in the lighting and he looked about as scared as you did. Oscar and Kal were missing, nobody knew where they had gone. You felt bad, you had liked both of them very much.

“Hey, Y/N?” Henry spoke up in the darkness. His voice sounded timid as you placed down the walkie-talkie on the other side of the counter.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for believing me. I thought I was going to be alone this entire time.”

“Really?”

“I’m a shy person, so it’s hard for me to make friends. When Gage, Rodney, and Addy came up to me, I felt really excited. I thought maybe for once I was going to be able to have friends.”

“Then, turned out, they’re shitty people.”

“Very.” He said before you two laughed, then he continued talking. “But you’re really genuine, you know that? I’m glad you gave me a chance.”

“Well, I’ve had some bad blood with them in the past, so I know how it feels.”

“I’ve been wanting to ask, what happened between you and them?”

“It’s sort of personal…”

“It’s alright if you don’t want to talk about it.”

“No, you asked.” You shook your head, feeling a wave of heat crash over you. You fanned yourself in the dark. “Well, I told you I came here when I was thirteen. I met Gage and his friends and hung out with them a lot. Then, Gage said he was interested in me. He sort of came onto me and started to flirt and then he kissed me. I had never experienced that before, so I was of course at awe. I _believed_ him. We dated for a year or so, then one night the asshole brought up my dad in a conversation. Very mockingly. So, I punched him in the nose. Broke his nose and was sent to that very same jail cell for a week.”

“So that’s why you and him don’t get along.”

“Yeah. Jerk almost used me for sex.”

“Oh.” Is all Henry said.

“Sorry, did I make you uncomfortable? I didn’t mean to.” You smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m okay.”

For the next couple of hours, the two of you talked. Mostly about Henry’s past though, you dismissed each time he tried to delve into yours. He spoke about his parents, his deceased older brother, the war, and even Shiva, his dad’s old pet tiger. You sat back, listening to his soothing voice before you heard a jingle outside. Pausing, he looked at the door and the two of you quickly leaned against it, pressing your ears on the cold door and waiting to hear something else. That jingle was definitely the ring of the front bell, but who or what was it?

“Y/N?” Called out a small voice. “Henry?”

You hesitated, looking up at Henry. He shrugged.

“It’s Tara.”

“Thank God.” You breathed, slowly pushing the door open. You met Tara, who had her gun in her hands, but quickly hugged you when she realized it was just you two. Michonne was her partner, standing by the door with her sword.

“Henry,” Tara addressed, looking at him. “heard that your mom is at Hilltop, she’s worried about you.”

“Oh, man, why did I leave?”

“Hey, we needed you on this mission. You did good.” You smiled at him, patting his back. He gave you a flash of a confident grin before the four of you ushered off back toward Alexandria. It took the rest of the day, but you saw familiar faces soon enough as the rest of the groups surrounding Alexandria gathered and geared back into a carriage, ready to go back to Hilltop.

“Y/N!” Called a small voice. You turned around, looking to the street where you saw a small girl running your way.

“Judith!” You said joyously, gripping her waist and pulling her up into a hug. Now that she was nine, she was much heavier than you had last seen her, but it was still a sweet gesture.

“I’m so happy to see you!”

“I know, it’s been a year since we last saw each other. I’ve been so busy with guard work.” You laughed softly.

“That’s okay.” Judith then allowed herself to drop down on the ground, looking at the people sitting around in the carriage. “Are you going back?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. Maybe we could plan a playdate soon, with RJ too?”

“I think she’d love that.” Michonne cut in, smiling at her daughter. “Judith, it’s almost your bedtime. Go on back with Gracie’s dad.”

“Okay, mommy.” She said, walking with Aaron and waving to you.

After waving back to her, you and Henry got onto the carriage and said your goodbyes to the people of Alexandria before you headed out again. During the freezing night, you realized you still had Henry’s jacket on yourself and you were about to ask him if he wanted it back, but he was fast asleep as the carriage pulled along through the night.

* * *

“Henry.” You gently said, shaking him. He groaned, squinting at first before he woke up, then sat up slowly. “We’re back home.”

“Home?” He asked, dazed.

“Hilltop. Come on, wake up Sleeping Beauty.”

“Don’t call me that.” He frowned as people began to hop off the carriage. You wobbled when you stood up and almost immediately, he got down and extended his arms out to you. Rolling your eyes, you didn’t accept his help as you jumped down onto the dirt. In the corner of your eye, you saw a worried mother rush over.

“Henry!” Carol said, enveloping her son in a hug. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

“Yeah, mom.”

“What were you thinking?! I told you to stay here and continue working on being a blacksmith. I also heard from Earl that you got drunk.” She began to scold him. Tara, standing in the sidelines, quickly parted the two and smiled apologetically.

“We needed him for this mission, Carol.”

“Like Hell you did--”

“Carol.” You said, approaching her. You didn’t know much about her, but you did know she was one of the only people, besides Daryl, that had been by Rick’s side from the very beginning. “Don’t get mad at him. If it wasn’t for him, I’d be a goner.”

Henry looked at you as if you had grew three heads out your butt. You winked at him. “I fell and hurt my knee and he helped me. If he wasn’t on that mission, the roamers would’ve gotten to me.”

Carol hesitated and sighed. “I was just scared when I came here and you were gone.”

“I know.” Henry hugged his mom again, his lips twitching upward into a smile toward you. Giving him a short thumbs up, you excused yourself to go to the infirmary and get bandages for your knee.


	4. ch. 4 - first kiss

_Tink._

You groaned, pulling your blankets over your head.

_Tink, tink._

Frowning, your eyes slowly opened. Looking around your dark room, you were simply too cozy and comfortable to even move. Maybe it was the rain outside making the noise. You heard thunder rumble in the back as you reassured yourself that it was nothing and then you slowly shut your eyelids again.

_TINK! TINK! TINK!_

“Okay, what the fuck is going on.” You said, sitting up immediately, wide awake now. You quickly pulled on some shorts before you wandered around your small trailer, looking for the source of the noise. Next to the front door, you kept hearing the small sound repeat as you slowly opened the window. You felt a pebble hit you square in the nose the moment the window rolled up.

“Ow!”

“Sorry, sorry!” Henry cooed, walking up closer. “I didn’t want to wake anyone else by knocking.”

“Who the fuck would you be waking up? The spiders?” You grumbled, obviously not a happy person when awoken so abruptly.

“No, I mean, your neighbors. Or if you had anyone else in there with you.”

“Yeah, my neighbors aren’t going to hear you _knock_ on my door. And who the hell would be in here with me?”

“Okay, I take it you’re not a morning person?”

“I’m not a wake-me-up person.” You said, your voice deep with seething anger. You then opened your front door, allowing him to walk in from the cold rain outside. “What do you want?”

“I want to sneak over the wall with you.”

You stared at him before you imagined slamming a door in his face, but alas there was none. So, you continually stared at him as if he had just proposed the stupidest thing ever-- which he had.

“Okay, it sounds stupid, but hear me out--”

“Henry.” You said, placing your hand on his shoulder. “Did you get dropped on your _head?_ What makes you think we should go out there, during midnight, in a thunderstorm, when Negan and those roamer-wearing people are wandering around?”

“Not my best plan, but I thought we could talk. Thunderstorms usually clear my head, you know.”

“We can just talk here.”

“I-I guess?”

“You know, you’re not quite Cool Hand Luke material, there, bud.” You said, rubbing your eyes. His expression didn’t change, therefore he didn’t understand your joke, so you quickly dismissed it. You sat down again on your couch, stretching as he slowly sat down next to you.

“Uhm-- Y/N… your shirt is…”

You looked over at him, then down at your tank top. It was slightly askew, since it was a little large on you, and your breasts were definitely showing a lot more than you planned. Quickly hiking your shirt up, you looked at him. “You want to go out into the woods?”

“Yeah, besides, I want to show you something.”

“Oh, so that’s what this whole rouse is for.” You smiled, slipping on your socks and boots. You took a bra off of a nearby hook and walked a couple paces ahead of Henry so that you could drop your tank top around your stomach and strap on the bra. He was silently watching you the entire time until you finally pulled up your tank top around your bra, turning to him. “Then, let’s head out.”

* * *

The rain had slowed almost near a halt by the time you had gotten far enough over the wall and then into the woods. Besides, the trees protected you and Henry from most of the little pellets of rain that drizzled from the thick clouds. He held your hand tightly, making sure you were following him closely through the night.

“So, where are you taking me?” You asked him, smiling.

“You’ll see.”

“Oh, but the suspense is killing me. Henry, can’t you give me a hint?”

“No hints. Just keep walking with me.”

“You keep whacking me with your stick.”

“Then stop getting in it’s way.”

You usually were angry when someone woke you up this early to go trotting around in the woods, but when you stood by Henry’s side, you’d make exceptions. He was opening up to you, you could see that, and it made you feel more comfortable around him. He wasn’t like Gage or Rodney or Addy, he was his own person. He had his own story. He was someone who, when you thought of, made your heart hammer in your throat. Even now, holding his hand, you felt at peace and like nothing could take you down.

Suddenly, you were in a field. More like a meadow, you thought to yourself, but the blooming flowers were shut tightly and just starting to bud. He kept on walking through it and as you glanced upwards at the night sky, you could see beyond the Milky Way and into other galaxies. Still, your view was somewhat blocked by trees.

“Okay, really, Henry--”

“Shh, no talking.”

You rolled your eyes and he pushed through some thick bramble with his stick, allowing you to pass on through first before he walked in behind you. Staring out, you overlooked a sea of green trees and mountains. You were high up, on a cliff, but the lush undergrowth receded near the edge and looked out to the pristine sky, glistening and glittering like a million diamonds under a spotlight. Standing in awe, you wanted to rub the sleep from your eyes before you took a better look, but it was as good quality as you saw it now. A fallen tree laid across the cliff and you felt Henry’s hand brush against your own as he led you toward it, sitting down finally.

“This is… so beautiful.” You breathed, looking out.

“Yeah, I know.”

“How did you find this?”

“When I was coming here with my mom.” He shortly explained, allowing you to nod. You didn’t even budge to look over at him, you were too fixated on the world out of your touch. “I always loved to stargaze when I was younger. Makes you really think how small you are, huh?”

“Mmm.” You agreed quietly, leaning over and placing your elbows on your knees and your head in your palms. You could feel a burning sensation and for some reason, it told you that Henry wasn’t looking up at the stars any longer. You couldn’t look over at him.

“Well, you know. Gage and his friends have a little hideout, so why don’t we make this _ours?_ It’s not much to begin with, but it’s already a good place because the bramble surrounding the area makes it near impossible to get through.”

You finally managed to tear your eyes off of the sky and look at him. Silhouetted against the dark belt of midnight, you could see his brown eyes shine under the faint star light. They met with yours for an almost passionate and heated moment and it only grew stronger when you broke the silence. “I’d like that.”

Henry’s warm hand ran atop yours that was now placed against the rotting wood log, then slowly traced the outside of your forearm, to your elbow, to your shoulder. His hand drifted along the air for a solid second before it landed on your cheek, drawing you into his face. Your eyes fluttered shut and you could feel his breath on your skin, his lips hardly skimming on yours before the two of you heard a loud rustling noise coming from not too far off. You jumped back in surprise and so did Henry, who looked at the area of the noise.

“We should probably head back.” You suggested, to which he nodded silently. Taking your hand, he led you through the bramble, over the meadow, and into the woods right before you climbed back on over the wall without being caught. He allowed you to go back to bed and with a smile, he waved to you and jogged towards the blacksmith’s, where he was temporarily calling home. When your front door shut behind you, you sighed and fell to the floor, holding your fingertips against your lips in a desperate attempt to hold the lingering heat there that had come from Henry’s lips. He hadn’t kissed you, but you could definitely feel the wafting sensations and ripples waver throughout your body. You smiled to yourself. You had sworn off love in general, after Gage, but this time felt different.

You felt like you were meant to be with Henry and you had no issue with calling this love.

* * *

A week seemed almost as short as a few hours. Many moments of you and Henry interacting brought the two of you closer, but he had to focus on his blacksmith studies and you were assigned as a gate guard most of the time. You lost track of the days eventually, everything blending together like one long day. After a morning shift as a guard, you sat down for lunch with a small book in your hands.

One of the things your dad also taught you was to draw. You could vividly remember him calming you down when you were just a young girl and teaching you how to draw. He only taught you realism, but over the years of practice, it was your favorite hobby and you were quite talented.

From a distance, you could see Henry working away in the small shack which he shared with Earl. He was visibly sweating and wiped his forehead with the hem of his shirt before getting back to work. You opened your book and flipped through the multiples of drawn-on pages before you reached a blank one. Occasionally glancing up at Henry and then back down at your sketchbook, you began a rough outline. Then, came the details. You traced your wooden pencil along the rough page, lightly lifting it up to create the illusion of hair. The face was difficult, but you mastered his jawline and lips quite well before you created the darkness surrounding his mysterious and dark eyes.

“What’cha doin’ there?” Someone said behind you, causing you to jump and drop your pencil, causing it to fly out of your fingertips and onto the dirt. Leaning over the book, you looked behind yourself and saw Tara with a knowing smile.

“Tara, you scared the shit out of me.” You sighed, calming your racing heart.

“This is the fourth time I’ve caught you drawing. It’s a rare sight. Henry’s your model?”

“You got me.” You rolled your eyes, leaning down and picking up your pencil, allowing Tara to examine your artwork before sitting down across you at the picnic table.

“I’ve noticed you two spend a lot of time together. Do you like him?” She asked, placing her chin in the palm of her hand.

“I don’t know.” You looked to the side. As much as you could admit it to yourself, you found it incredibly difficult to say it to Tara’s face. Why was she so interested anyways?

“When a girl liked me, I had no idea until she did something that really shoved it in my face. I’m sort of the oblivious type.” Tara laughed lightheartedly. You chuckled softly, looking at her expression that turned a little remorseful.

“Tara, your last girlfriend, what was she like?”

“Well,” Tara said, looking off into space. “I’m not one for outside appearance. She was witty and funny and sarcastic as all get out. Kind of reminds me like you.”

“Is that a compliment?” You asked her with a laugh. She lightly punched you in the arm, smiling. She was looking off in the direction of Henry before you glanced over and noticed he was starting to walk your way. Tara stood up quickly, patting your shoulder before wandering off into the crowd elsewhere. You slammed your book shut and Henry approached your side. You couldn’t help but note the small details: his hair sticking to his forehead as his sweat rolled down his cheeks and dripped onto his pre-soaked shirt.

“Hey, what’s that?” He asked, sitting down beside you. “I’m on lunch break, don’t worry.”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” You moved to cover it, but he quickly snagged it from you and opened it, flipping through the pages. His expression changed drastically into amazement.

“You call this nothing? It’s so pretty, Y/N!”

“Oh, jeez…” You said, watching his sweat threaten to drop on your precious artwork. Quickly, you took it from his fingers. “Wipe your face first. And if you’re going to eat, don’t do it over it.”

“Alright, alright.” He said, laughing as he lifted his shirt up yet again, wiping his face down. You could see his stomach and you tore your eyes away reluctantly. Then, Henry went off and got a plate of lunch before joining you again. You flipped through it for him as he shoveled food into his mouth.

“Who’s that?” He asked. “You seem to draw him a lot.”

“That was my dad.” You said in a bittersweet tone. “He’d pose for me a lot.”

“How long have you had this sketchbook?”

“Ever since I was ten. I don’t draw a lot since I’m busy guarding or teaching.” You shrugged. You hesitated on the last page where you had drawn him, but he noticed you were shutting the book and there was still one he hadn’t seen yet. He quickly took your hand, forcing the book open and turning the page. He sat still for a couple moments before smiling obnoxiously and turning to you.

“That’s me.”

“No, really?” You asked sarcastically. He laughed.

“Can I keep it?”

“Oh, uh…”

“I get it, you don’t want to tear it out. How about I get a piece of paper for you? Then, you can draw me.”

“Sure, Henry.” You mused, watching him fist pump the air like a child. The two of you talked for awhile until he had to get back to his usual blacksmithing business. During the conversation, he requested you to draw more of him because he’d expect to see the entire thing filled up with things that didn’t have bittersweet memories. So, you complied, and drew him from afar again until you had to get back to your own chores.

Later that night, you were up in your trailer doodling to yourself mostly until you heard a gentle knock on your door before it swung open, exposing Henry. For the first time in awhile, he wasn’t drenched with rain or his own sweat, instead looked dry and his hair looked incredibly fluffy and tangible. Yet, you kept your hands to yourself as you crossed your arms with indignation.

“You just invite yourself into my own home now?” You asked impatiently with one eyebrow raised.

“I’m sorry.” He apologetically said in a soft tone, and something about his voice made you stop pretending you were upset with him. You could just imagine it now: Henry had come to kiss you finally and shoved your artwork to the side, straddling you to the couch and pressing hot kisses to your--

“Y/N?”

“Oh, yeah, sorry!” You said, blinking back into reality. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to watch you draw me.” He said innocently, but all you could imagine was that one scene from _Titanic_. Nodding, you rolled up your sleeves and took out a piece of paper on a clipboard. Looking up at him, he stood awkwardly there.

“Well? What are we doing here?” You asked him with a small smile forming on your face.

“I don’t know. Tell me what to do.”

“Do you want to pose naked?” You said casually but had to quickly breathe it out before you stuttered. His face reddening, Henry’s eyes went wide.

“Is that n-necessary?” Swallowing, Henry touched the hem of his shirt with nervousness.

“No, but usually figure drawing doesn’t include any clothes.” You suggested lightly, trying not to lead him on too much. Looking down, Henry quickly pulled a stool from the other side of the room and pulled his shirt over his head, lying it down on the stool. He reached for his belt but you quickly interrupted him. “W-Wait, that’s good! Just sit. Relax.”

Blinking, he nodded and compliantly sat down on the stool.

“Now, stay still. I’ll let you know when I’m done.”

You sat back, taking a bamboo charcoal stick and etching out his figure, often glancing up at him. As an artist, you couldn’t get distracted staring at his body, but you did it anyways. Not like he’d know or anything, you figured, as you began working on small details. You chiseled the blank slate of the face into a more delicate shape, edging the details of his hair and moving to every strand that fell perfectly across his face. Then, his chest and abdomen, which you were skilled at shading muscles. It only took you around twenty minutes to complete a messy draft, but you leaned back with a smile.

“Is it done?” Henry asked.

“Yeah, come look.” You said, stretching your legs out. He got up off the stool and looked at the image, smiling softly as he examined it. “Careful not to touch the lines, it’s charcoal so it’ll smudge easily.”

After your warning, he took it carefully from the clipboard and held it up. Dust particles from the overused bamboo sticks fell off gracefully and you watched his eyes soften. He sat still for a hot minute or two before he placed it down gently, looking over at you with half-lidded eyes that made you swallow heavily.

“This is the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me.”

“Oh, come on.” You smiled, waving your hand.

“No, really!” He said, taking both of your hands. “Thank you so much.”

“Yeah, no problem.” You said softly, but you felt his hands linger atop yours and your heart began to race again. “Henry?” You asked him, but he didn’t respond as he leaned in closer. Again, you could feel his lips brush against yours and even the hairs on your skin swept along with his. Without hesitating a moment further, he roughly pushed his lips into yours. Obviously, he had never kissed anyone before, but you taught him how by tilting your head and parting your lips gradually. Your drawing was placed on the clipboard then on the floor before Henry pushed you further downwards into the couch, continuing to kiss you.

Parting away after a couple of seconds, you laid underneath him as he pinned you to the plush couch. He quickly got up off of you, red in the face. “I’m sorry.” He quickly said. “I should get going.”

You didn’t want it to end so quickly, but you didn’t have much say in it as he took his shirt and slipped it back on before he picked up his drawing that you did of him. Looking back to you one last time, he gave you a weak smile.

“Thanks again for the drawing. I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah…” You trailed away as he rushed out of your little trailer. Was it something you did? Why was he in such a hurry to get away from you, right as he kissed you? And he took your damn drawing! You wanted to keep it as a memory, but you figured maybe Henry would appreciate it more so. Standing up, you got ready for bed as you contemplated what your next move with Henry would be.


	5. ch. 5 - a new rival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY, so a few notes here.
> 
> I thought about writing a whole A/N about this, but I decided against it and so I'm going to sum it up here.
> 
> I started writing this fanfic BEFORE s9 e9 came out. I finished writing this chapter after watching s9 e9.
> 
> So, SPOILER WARNING for s9 e9.
> 
> I'm also semi-aware of what might happen because I know the storyline from the comics vaguely, so I will try to loosely follow that but from this point on I will NOT be accurate to the TV show. If I do happen to like something that happens, though, I will put it in.
> 
> But, the REST OF THIS FANFIC will entirely be my rendition of season 9. NO MORE and NO LESS.
> 
> Thank you! (and let's hope Henry doesn't die in the show)

Tensions between you and Henry felt so drastic, like you were slowly drifting apart from him somehow. A part of you told you that it was the kiss that drew him away from you, but you hoped to God it truly wasn’t that of all things. When you thought of Henry, you hoped he’d come swinging back into your house with raging confidence. Now, the past week, he begun to act like a scared kitten when you rounded him. Whether it was during lunch break, on his shift, or after he stopped working, he would always scuttle away from you rather quickly.

After dinner one afternoon, you were heading back to your simple little trailer to claim another uneventful night in until you felt a hand on your shoulder. Turning around hopefully, your hopes were dashed away once you saw the face of the person.

“You not hangin’ around Huckleberry anymore?” Gage asked you, leaning closer. “What happened?”

“Jesus Christ. As if you care, Gage.” You rolled your eyes, pushing his hand off of you. “He’s just busy, that’s all.”

“Too busy to talk to his little girlfriend? You were quick to replace me.”

“That was years ago. Can you leave me alone?” You asked him, briskly walking off in the direction to your trailer. He followed, hot in pursuit. You flung your door open and he held his palm flat against it so that you couldn’t slam it shut on him. Then, he entered and shut the door behind him. “That’s not what I mean when I say to _leave me the hell alone._ ”

“Come on, baby, can’t you forgive me?”

“I won’t fucking bother to punch your nose askew like I did last time.”

“Don’t be a bitch.” Gage said, and suddenly you could smell the alcohol from his breath. Where he had gotten it, you had no earthly clue, but Gage came at you, grabbing your wrists. You tried to use self-defense to get out of his iron grips, but it wasn’t working in your favor. “You think you’re the only one who knows self-defense?” He said, pulling you into a headlock before he began to squeeze your throat tightly with his forearm.

“Get off!” You struggled, trying to drop your weight. He simply fell down onto the floor with you, now pinning you.

“I love you so much,” Gage slurred, looking wearily into your eyes. “Why can’t you love me too?”

“Because you’re an immature little dick!” You spat and suddenly, your door opened. Not all heroic as you imagined, more timidly and fitting for Henry’s character as he stepped inside and saw what was going on.

“What’s going on?” Henry asked worriedly. “Get off of her!”

“Oh, great, your little boyfriend’s here.” Gage said, looking over his shoulder to Henry. “Do me a favor and fuck off.”

“No!” Henry denied, quickly pushing Gage down onto the floor. He rolled into your couch and beloved pieces of artwork that were strewn about, wrinkling them as they got wedged between Gage’s body and the furniture. You cringed but Henry quickly helped you to your feet. Pushing your hair behind your ear, he examined your face and looked down at Gage clumsily attempt to get up.

“Allow me.” You said with a small smile, taking Gage’s hand. Gage pulled himself up, straightening his spine before you cracked him across the jaw. Flying back onto the couch, he groaned in pain. Shaking your fist off, Henry looked wide-eyed at you. Standing back up, Gage stumbled out of your trailer flipping the two of you the bird before slamming the door, closing you and Henry in a room together.

“Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“No, I’ll be fine.” You dismissed, sighing. “Thanks for checking in on me, though…”

“Well, seeing Gage follow you into your trailer was enough of a weird sight.” Henry joked lightly. You bent over, picking up your papers and you frowned, cursing under your breath. “Oh… your drawings are ruined.”

“They’re just… wrinkled. I’ll iron them later.” You said, looking at smudged drawings of your father. Your eyes burned, threatening to leak tears. Your throat tightening, you hunched over the beloved drawings of your father before you broke out into sobs. Henry quickly walked over to you, kneeling down beside you and placing his hands on your shoulders. He turned you around to face him, but you tried to keep your face from his sight. Taking your chin, he pulled your eyes up to meet him.

“Oh, Y/N…” Henry said softly, taking the papers out of your fingers and resting them on the couch. “Come on, get up.”

“I don’t want you to see me like this.” You cried, wiping your face constantly on your sleeve. He quickly helped you up and ushered you to a nearby tissue box, where you took some and wiped your face clean of any tears.

“You know, when you punched Gage…” Henry said, trying to comfort you, “you looked really cool.”

“Jeez, Henry!” You laughed in between your shivering sobs. He quickly took your face in his hands, pulling you close to him and then enveloping you in a warm hug.

“It’ll be okay. You can cry, you know. I won’t think you’re weak or anything.”

“I just miss him.” You sighed into Henry’s chest, clinging to him.

“I know.” He replied, looking at the drawings of your father. He blinked and squeezed you tighter. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Yes.” You nodded and he made room on the couch. The two of you carefully sat down and you explained more about your father, things he had never even known. You explained how you witnessed his death first hand and then how much of a loving father he really was. How he’d always sing to you and take your hands and dance, then teach to you draw, then he’d braid your hair so things felt like they were normal again. For the first time in years, you recalled, things had finally begun to feel that way again. Henry listened intently, paying attention to you. For that, you were thankful. At the end, there was an awkward pause.

“Do you want me to stay with you?” Henry hesitated asking. Your heart felt like it was pummeling roughly in your throat as you looked up to him and nodded quietly. His hand ran across yours and you delicately reached out to touch him, lacing your fingers with his. Pulling him up and off the couch, you led the way down the hall into a separate bedroom.

“This is the guest room… you can sleep here for tonight, if you’d like.” You mumbled.

“No, I want to sleep with you.” He said, absentmindedly. When your wide eyes darted to meet his, he blushed frantically. “No, I-- uh, I mean… not that.”

“Oh, do you?” You grinned ear to ear, dragging him into your bedroom. Shutting the door, you pushed him onto the bed. He looked panicked and incredibly embarrassed as you straddled his chest.

“Y-Y/N! P-Please…”

“Please what?” You leaned down, kissing his cheek softly and trailing down his jawline. “After we kissed, you’ve been avoiding me this entire time. I thought maybe I had done something wrong.”

“It’s not that!” He rushed, breathing shallowly. “I’ve just been too embarrassed to talk to you. I was afraid you wouldn’t like me back.”

“So, you admit to liking me.” You said confidently as you rolled off of his chest and onto the other side of your bed. “Took you long enough.”

“W-What?”

“I’m not going to make you do that. I just wanted an answer.” You smiled, looking over at him. “Although, you are incredibly cute when you’re all flustered like that.”

“Jesus, Y/N!” He said, whapping you in the face with a pillow. You laughed and retaliated, doing the same thing to him. The two of you threw and played around, but you found yourself getting lulled deeper and deeper into his gaze as you leaned forward, pressing your mouth on his. You decided to tease him as you pulled away, tugging the blankets up over your body and sighing. You were exhausted and you could tell he was feeling the same way. He crawled under the blankets and pulled you closer, snuggling as he shut his eyes.

* * *

When you woke up in the morning, Henry was gone. You frowned and sat up, looking around, but saw a note on the dresser. Picking it up, you read it to yourself.

_Hey, Y/N, sorry I couldn’t stay long but I had to get to work really early this morning. If I’m lucky, maybe you’ll stop by? ♡_

You rolled your eyes. Such a cute note deserved a place on your fridge and so you stuck it there before you got dressed and raced out the door. In the distance, you saw Michonne step into the main manor centered in the community and you frowned, walking toward it with a curious expression.

When you finally entered the manor, you heard voices whispering from a room set to the side. You shuffled slowly toward it and heard Tara and Michonne speaking in low voices.

“We found Negan.” Michonne said, catching your ear. Your eyes widened.

“Thank God, where was he?” Tara sighed relief.

“He was at the Sanctuary before he drove off. And someone--” Michonne paused, rolling her eyes, “--meaning Judith-- had found him.”

“Oh my…” Tara cupped her hand over her mouth. “She just left Alexandria?”

“And found him? Yes. So, she’s under constant supervision at Alexandria. Yet, I’ve begun to consider releasing him from his cell.”

“Are you serious?” Tara frowned. You heard a gruff voice speak up from a part of the room that you couldn’t see and you immediately identified it as Daryl’s.

“He’s a murderer.” He grunted, standing to his feet and shuffling closer and in your line of sight.

“I know.” Michonne turned to him, propping her arms up in thought. “But to think he managed to escape and came back willingly and didn’t even lay a finger on Judith says something. I think all those years in prison has done something to him.”

“Maybe he’s just alone? Couldn’t handle it out there?” Tara suggested to which Michonne shrugged.

“I don’t know, but we have bigger issues on our hands than just Negan. I came to talk about your missing men--”

“Actually, Michonne,” Tara spoke up, clearing her throat, “we have two more missing.”

“What?” She frowned at the long-haired woman. “What do you mean you have two more missing?”

“Kal and Oscar went missing a couple days ago and now Alden and a new recruit, Luke, have gone missing. Since this morning.”

“What are we going to do?” Michonne sighed. “More and more of our people are going missing…”

“I say we go out there and look for them.” Daryl suggested.

“But a small group? No, we need a large search party.” Michonne said, turning to her old friend. “If people are disappearing in groups of two, we get a group much larger than two.”

“That could potentially risk more of us being seen.” Tara argued. “It’s not the best idea.”

“It’s the only idea.” Daryl shook his head slowly. You had leaned in so much so that you didn’t notice Daryl’s dog (creatively named Dog) had burst through the doors between your legs, causing you to loose balance and topple into the room. Everyone turned on their heels, facing you as Dog raced in, panting loudly as he heeled to Daryl’s side.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Daryl accused you as you hauled yourself up onto your feet, still a bit wobbly from the impact. You gave him a sheepish grin.

“Sorry… I might’ve overheard some stuff. You need a search party, right?”

* * *

You didn’t want to spread the news to the folks of Hilltop just yet and you were instructed to gather three more people to join you, Daryl, and Michonne on your journey outside the walls. You decided it be best to visit Enid and Magna. They were informed that Alden and Luke were missing, so the two were easy to find as you climbed up a watchtower, joining the two.

“Hey, guys…” You began softly. The two didn’t look at you but you knew they had heard you. “Listen, there’s a search party for Alden and Luke. Care to join?”

Both of the girls immediately agreed and you nodded, telling them to pack lightly. You didn’t know who you wanted the third person to be but you knew that you had to tell Henry before you left, so you went to go talk to him.

Gently knocking on the door, you saw Henry changing shirts in his own room at the blacksmith’s. You faltered, smiling as he turned around and quickly pulled his shirt on to cover his body.

“Hey, Y/N,” He gave you a small shy smile. “glad you’re here. I’ve actually been meaning to--”

“Sorry to interrupt,” You sighed, “but I just wanted to tell you that Alden and Luke have gone missing and we’re organizing a search party.”

He frowned and approached you, drawing closer and reaching out, taking both of your hands reluctantly.

“That’s great, but… you’re not going, right?”

“Are you stupid? Yes, I’m going.” You said, frowning at him.

He made a hurt face which was not your intention at all but you couldn’t address it in time before he began to speak again.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt is all.” He shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Look, Henry, you know I can take care of myself. But you shouldn’t go--”

“What do you mean? You’re going but I can’t all of a sudden? If you are, then I am.”

“No, listen--”

“I’m going.” He said, turning his back from you and signaling that the conversation had ended. You sighed and turned, not sure why the tensions between the two of you were so high. You walked away and joined the others that were ready to leave. You all decided to walk instead of ride horses or a carriage, knowing that it would be tiring but it was the only option. When Henry joined you all finally, you all made way outside of Hilltop and into the forest.

“So, what do you think happened to them?” Enid asked timidly, looking to Michonne.

“They went on a small search party looking for Kal and Oscar, my only assumption is they got lost or separated.” She said glumly.

“No,” You spoke up, walking a couple yards away from Henry. “There’s other possibilities.”

“Possbilities we don’t want to consider.” Magna cut in. “I doubt they were killed by walkers.”

“These Whisperers…” Enid quietly began to worry. “Maybe they had something to do about it?”

You all had agreed that what killed Jesus had to be named beforehand and they had come to be known as the Whisperers. Ruthless people who killed anyone and anything in sight. Although, only the inner circle knew about this. The other Hilltop and Alexandria citizens didn’t know much about it except a new enemy was arising.

You nodded to the girl your height. “Yeah, I agree. Think about it: Kal and Oscar are the first ones to go missing. Then, we send out search parties, they all come back until Alden and Luke disappear. I’m just thinking that these Whisperers are picking us off slowly. So, they’re either dead or held hostage.”

“Where should we check first?” Magna sighed and you could visibly tell Enid wasn’t wanting to speak. You knew she had been through a lot and losing two boyfriends was just bad karma.

“There’s fresh tracks here. Looks like a small herd.” Daryl grunted up ahead, using his insane tracking skills as Dog trotted along the way. You glanced at Henry and felt a surge of pain when you noticed his sad expression. Falling back a little ways from the group, you walked beside him.

“Hey.” You quietly said. He only glanced down at you. “Okay, I get it, you’re upset with me.”

“I’m just concerned.” He replied, looking on ahead. “It’s dangerous and I don’t want you out here.”

“You think I don’t feel the same way? You can hardly fist fight and you’re swinging your little stick around.” You retorted. “Henry, I shouldn’t have even let you come.”

“If you had left without telling me, I would’ve only been more furious.” He glared down at you. You rubbed your temples with a dramatic exhale and he said one thing that surprised you a little bit. “What even are we?”

“What do you mean?” You glanced back up at him.

“Well, you’re all sweet and kind at first and saying you like me and then you’re acting… like…”

“Like what?” You said in an accusatory tone, raising an eyebrow toward him. “Like a bitch?”

“No--” He tried to defend himself but you scoffed.

“That’s totally what you were going to say.” You rolled your eyes, sucking on your teeth. You felt annoyed that he insisted on coming along when you really didn’t want him out here. He could really get hurt and the idea of that happening set you off. “Look, just…” You sighed angrily, unable to find your words as you walked up ahead.

Suddenly, the group notices a small group of walkers nearby-- the herd that was expected. Daryl cornered them on a nearby bridge and used his crossbow to shoot at them, testing to see who was dead and who wasn’t. Hitting one in the leg, it continued to shuffle forward. The next was also shot in the leg and he fell down screaming in pain, attracting walkers to him. The rest try slowly escaping to the other side, where you and Michonne were waiting for them. They draw their knives and get ready to attack but you caught one off guard by disarming them with a simple high kick. Killing them with ease, there was only one left and she stuck up her hands in fear.

You frowned and everybody drew around her in a small circle. Daryl took her mask in his hands and ripped it off, throwing it to the floor. Her face was dirty and her hair was matted tightly against her sweaty skin. Even without the walker skin on her face, she reeked of putrid death.

“Please… please don’t kill me.” She begged, tears in her eyes. You almost felt a twang of pity for the girl until you remembered what her people did to Jesus and possibly Kal, Oscar, Alden, and Luke.

“Who are you?” Michonne said, pulling her katana against the girl’s neck. She choked in a sob and you noticed more walkers pulling closer from the woods.

“Michonne.” You warned, ready to attack. Henry frowned and shook his head.

“Put it down!” He said to Michonne a little aggressively. Your head swerved to face him and he was showing nothing but mercy for the poor girl kneeling on the wooden bridge.

“Excuse me?” She asked him intimidatingly.

“A-Ah, I just… we need to go. Let’s just take her back.” Henry suggested and Daryl rolled his eyes, taking a bandana and wrapping it around the girl’s eyes before quickly hauling her to her feet. They all shuffled in the opposite direction, rounding the bridge and avoiding the walkers before getting back to Hilltop as the sun began to sink in the sky.

The search party hadn’t lasted long but at least you managed to capture one of the Whisperers. It was a good day. You didn’t notice until later that you had a long cut on your arm but it wasn’t that deep so you disregarded it as you entered the community. Everyone watched as Enid and Magna parted off from the group and you, Daryl, and Michonne took the girl to the cells. Henry was stopped by Earl who scolded him for running off into the woods like that.

Roughly pushing the girl into a cell and tearing off her blindfold, she was forced to sit in a chair as Michonne and Daryl interrogated her harshly, flashing their weapons occasionally. You stood outside the cell, listening to her distant cries. You saw Henry just now running down the stairs and you sighed.

“Y/N! What are they doing to her?” He asked worriedly and you pushed him back with your hand.

“Sorry, nobody else is allowed in.” You shook your head. He took your wrist and looked at your cut, suddenly appearing furious.

“You’re hurt?” He said, glancing up at you. “Why didn’t you go see Saddiq? What’s wrong with you?” He said, gripping your wrist tighter. You glared back at him, feeling his anger rub off on you.

“It’s not that bad!” You replied angrily, twisting your wrist and getting out of his grasp. “Besides, I had to make sure this bitch didn’t try anything.”

“Woah, language. You have no right calling her that.” He looked at you with wide eyes.

“Wh…” You began, startled by his response. “What the hell’s wrong with _you_? Defending this girl who probably killed Jesus! Who might have killed Kal, Oscar, Alden, Luke! She’s on _their_ side and you’re being all buddy-buddy with her?” You paused and it just slipped out of your mouth. “Well, if you like her so much, then why don’t you just ask _her_ to be your girlfriend instead?” You felt tears well up in your eyes as you stormed off, racing past him.

You felt overwhelmed and that was normal. You went to go visit Siddiq and he patched up your arm and then you spend the whole night lying in your bed wondering if you had made the wrong choice.

Meanwhile, Henry interrupted Michonne and Daryl’s interrogation and told them to give it awhile. They hesitantly left once the girl had sobbed and told them her group number, that they were all dead, and that she didn’t have a name. Henry stayed behind to make sure they left and he looked at the poor girl curled up on the chair, shivering.

“Hey…” Henry softly said, leaning close to the bars. She glanced up at him, wiping her face.

“Thank you…” She murmured. “For making them go.”

“I know you’ve been through a lot.” He whispered back, sighing. “It’s been really stressful for all of us.”

“I didn’t kill whoever you think I did.” She pushed her hair out of her face, exposing her pretty brown eyes. When she had cried as much as she did, her tears washed away most of the dirt caked on her face and she looked like a normal girl his age.

“No, I know that. I believe you.” Henry said, trying to calm her down. At this point, it was working since she was no longer crying. “I understand that you only did what you did to survive. Everyone’s ideas are so warped that they think they’re the victims here.” He said, talking mostly about Michonne and Daryl who had scared the living daylights out of the poor girl.

She nodded slowly. There was an awkward silence and Henry offered her a crooked boyish smile. “I’m Henry.”

She didn’t say anything for a couple of moments as if she had to recall her own name, but she drew closer to the cell bars. “Lydia.” She finally responded, her eyes meeting his. Henry felt something in his chest but ignored the feeling as his thoughts were still lingering on you.

“Look, I’m… I’m sorry they treated you so badl--” He was cut off when her lips met his. Sent into shock, he stumbled back after processing what she had just done. Holding his hand over his lips, she blinked innocently.

“Thank you, Henry.” She repeated with a small smile. Henry, not being able to respond, quickly rushed out of the small prison area and out into the open air, feeling the cool humidity hit against his face.

He was having an inner battle, trying to pick and choose. Were you the right girl for him, or was he making a mistake as he recalled your multiple arguments today? And with Lydia… he felt his heart hammer loudly in his throat. Why was he so nervous and jumpy over a girl he had just met?


End file.
